exit polls showed chavez oozing. they showed pictures of the military deploying tanks in the street. what kind of mandate does this victory give chavez? >> reporter: hugo chavez won this election by ten points. that is a significant victory but certainly a lot less than he won by six years ago. he won by 27 points. they say this was not a fair elections shall they say he used state controlled television to put himself on television and billions of dollars of state controlled oil money to buy votes. he has a core support of more than 50% inside venezuela, especially venezuela's poor. the big question for hugo chavez is will his tell the hold up for another six year term. he has fought cancer for years. there is no one in his party that can step in and relays him if he can't serve the full six years. patti ann: what does this mean for the united states in. >> it has a positive, it is a relatively peaceful election. there was more than an 80% turn out in venezuela, people waited in line for hours, and after it was over